{"id":121635,"date":"2026-01-17T05:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T05:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/121635\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T05:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T05:44:10","slug":"why-st-petersburg-needs-a-fan-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/121635\/","title":{"rendered":"Why St. Petersburg needs a Fan Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every superhero has a unique origin story, and the Fan Man\u2019s begins with Hurricane Milton ripping the roof off of Tropicana Field.<\/p>\n

\u200bNeil MacDonald, who was already a Tampa Bay Rays superfan, called the events unfolding in early October 2024 traumatizing. Like many locals, he was \u201ctaken aback\u201d while reflecting on the loss of life, property and memories caused by back-to-back hurricanes.<\/p>\n

\u200bHowever, the \u201chuman spirit to rebuild\u201d is just as powerful as Mother Nature, MacDonald said. He began selling fabric pieces of the Trop\u2019s dome, retrieved from a flooded St. Petersburg street by his son, and donating 100% of the proceeds to local nonprofits assisting storm victims<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u200bSports broadcasting behemoth ESPN profiled<\/a> MacDonald, and Tampa Bay outlets followed. Fan Man was born out of a desire to keep that positive momentum going and inspire others to uplift their neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cI felt there should be some sort of a silver lining \u2013 maybe a symbol,\u201d MacDonald said. \u201cSome sign of hope and perseverance to remind people that it will be a long road, but we will move forward and rebuild.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bWhile he does not fight crime, MacDonald, now retired, was a law enforcement officer in his home state of New York. The Fan Man patrols area sporting events and Ferg\u2019s Sports Bar and Grill<\/a> rather than dark alleys.<\/p>\n

\u200bMacDonald became a frequent customer at Ferg\u2019s after attending the inaugural Rays game across the street in 1998. He said it was \u201cgreatly disappointing\u201d to know that the sports bar, a St. Petersburg fixture before baseball arrived, would suffer from the team spending its 2025 season in Tampa.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mark Ferguson (left), owner of Ferg\u2019s Sports Bar and Grill, and Neil \u201cFan Man\u201d MacDonald. Photo by Mark Parker.<\/p>\n

\u201cA life of its own\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bMacDonald asked Mark Ferguson, owner of Ferg\u2019s, how he could help offset the impact<\/a> of losing the Rays. Ferguson suggested becoming \u201cour Fan Man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bThe role was relatively simple and ideally suited for a lifelong sports aficionado. MacDonald would attend sporting events, highlight the atmosphere at Ferg\u2019s, return to what now serves as Fan Man\u2019s headquarters and mingle with customers.<\/p>\n

\u200bWith the help of an extremely supportive wife, Camela, MacDonald \u201cput together a few Fan Man costumes.\u201d He now has 24 \u2013 despite giving away 15 capes.<\/p>\n

\u200bFan Man became a fixture at Rays games at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Newspapers and broadcasters nationwide highlighted his opening day poster that read, \u201cWelcome to Tampicana Field.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bPeople began lining up for pictures and autographs. Camela said he should sign as \u201cFan Man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cThe Fan Man persona took on a life of its own,\u201d MacDonald said. \u201cSo then I started playing the part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bThe family car became the \u201cFanmobile,\u201d complete with branded logos. MacDonald started handing out Fan Man trading cards.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cHe jumped on it,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cHe loves getting in front of the camera and talks to everybody. He\u2019s been a great asset. And it\u2019s just because we gave him a chance to promote Ferg\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Neil MacDonald (left) has given away 15 custom capes. Photo provided.<\/p>\n

Fan Man is now ubiquitous at what USA Today subsequently crowned as the nation\u2019s best sports bar<\/a>. MacDonald was eager to augment the experience and help attract customers due to Ferguson\u2019s philanthropic support for underprivileged youth athletes.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cIf they can do that, the least I could do is go put on a cape, uniform and go around his sports bar and smile, give away baseball cards and have fun watching games,\u201d MacDonald said.<\/p>\n

\u200bHe creates customized capes for \u201cpeople I admire in their line of work,\u201d such as veterans, teachers and essentially anyone who exudes superhero virtues in their daily lives.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cWe are all interchangeable,\u201d MacDonald said. \u201cWe\u2019re really all the same \u2013 making the Fan Man family bigger with everyone promoting good deeds. Words are meaningless unless backed up by action.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cIt\u2019s all about sharing and giving.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bMacDonald said he has spent about $5,000 on costume supplies and an untold amount on tickets. Fan Man began appearing at Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Lightning games, and regularly attends charity events.<\/p>\n

\u200bHis positivity also extends to opposing fans. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to have the other team to play ball,\u201d is a Fan Man catchphrase.<\/p>\n

\u200bMacDonald, who has regularly attended sporting events for the past 50 years, described his superhero persona as \u201cevery full-of-life fan or mascot I ever encountered, all bottled up into one.\u201d He said Fan Man would live on \u201cfor the next 20 years, until I drop dead or until I pass the baton to my grandson.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bHis overarching mission is not to ward off villains, although the retired officer pledged to defend anyone in need. MacDonald wants to help a million people in some way and is \u201ctrying really hard\u201d to accomplish that feat through individual interactions.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cI\u2019m not doing anything out of the ordinary \u2013 other people go to fundraisers,\u201d MacDonald added. \u201cOther people say wonderful things and share good times with their friends. I just have a cape, that\u2019s the only difference. When you take my cape off and put it on you, or anybody else in the world, we\u2019re all the same.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cMaybe I\u2019m bringing to light that we should all do a little more good deeds and be a smidgen nicer to each other. That\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Neil MacDonald (left) transitioned from Fan Man to Santa Claus \u2013 and decorated and donated \u201cCharlie Brown Christmas trees\u201d \u2013 around the holidays. Mark Ferguson, owner of Ferg\u2019s Sports Bar and Grill, credited his ability to connect with customers. Photo by Mark Parker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every superhero has a unique origin story, and the Fan Man\u2019s begins with Hurricane Milton ripping the roof…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-121635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-st-pete","9":"tag-st-pete-headlines","10":"tag-st-pete-news","11":"tag-st-petersburg","12":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","13":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}